Kalayaan by Dennis Natividad · 365 Project “I am a Filipino born to freedom, and I shall not rest until freedom shall have been added unto my inheritance—for myself and my children and my children’s children—forever.” ― Carlos P. Romulo

The Tromba Marina sculpture serves as a reminder of the tsunami in 1735 that almost wiped out Baler.

The life-sized sculpture at the foot of Ermita Hill along the main road dramatizes what happened, a reminder what took place when tsunami hits the town.Only several families were able to climb the hill successfully and survived.

The 17-niche carved wooden retablo painted in sparkling gold of Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño. Each niche features different Augustinian Saints and Blessed and the image of Sto. Niño de Cebu in the center.

Bantayan Church is considered to be as the first and oldest parish established in Cebu, Philippines. It was founded in June 11, 1580 and was offered to the Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion by the Augustinian Priests. After it was accomplished, Saint Peter became the patron saint. The original church was destroyed by the Moro raids in 1628 and 800 Bantayanons were taken as slaves by the Moro Pirates. It repaired in that same year and the management was turned over to the secular. The construction of the existing structure commenced in 1839 and was finished in 1863.

The Bantayan Church has walls of coral stones.It used to have a roof made of Tisa Clay but because of age, the clays broke. The church’s existing roof is now made of Stainless Steel.

The image of the Sto. Niño de Cebu is the oldest religious image in the Philippines. The wooden image, made by Flemish artisans, was brought to the island by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, just like the Magellan cross. Magellan gave the image Sto. Niño to Queen Juana as a baptismal gift.

In 1565, Cebu was for a big part destroyed by a fire. The fire was set on purpose by the Spaniards as a punishment for hostile activities of the Cebuanos. In one of the burned houses, a Spanish soldier found the image of Sto. Niño. Remarkably unscratched! Since then, the miraculous image has been treated by the Cebuanos as its patron saint. At present, the miraculous image is kept in the Parish convent, and only a replica, adorned with gold and precious stones and enshrined in glass, is hold inside the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu.

The Rice Terraces in the Philippines is an outstanding example of an evolved, living cultural landscape that can be traced as far back as two millennia ago in the pre-colonial Philippines.(Text from http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/722)

In 1581, the Augustinians established a mission in Kalibo. In 1680, the Kalibo was erected a parish under the advocacy of the San Juan Bautista Then, the town site was at Barrio Laguinbanwa in Numancia, some two kilometers distant from the present site of Kalibo. Here at Laguinbanwa, a church was erected but when town transferred site to its present location, another church was constructed at the new site (1804). Both church and convento were completed completed in 1826. But tragedy struck the complex when on 24 May 1885 however, a big fire razed the town including the convento. The convento was reconstructed the following year (1886). After the World War II, in 1947, Gabriel M. Reyes, Archbishop of Cebu and later Manila, personally took a hand reconstructing and remodeling the church. The church “On 14 June 1990, an earthquake measuring 7.1 in the Richter Scale hit Panay Island at 3:41 P.M., “The epicenter was located at 11.34 North latitude; 122.10 East longitude, in the vicinity of Culasi, Antique. The depth was computed to be 15 kilometers,” reported Philvocs. Damage to property included “The Catholic Church of Kalibo that is made of bricks (which) suffered cracks on its walls.” During the incumbency as bishop of Gabriel V. Reyes, a nephew of the former archbishop of Manila restored and improved the church to accommodate the many pilgrims who come to celebrate the feast of the Santo Niño. – Heritage Conservation Society